A collection of thoughts, essays, opinion and nonsense from a former morning show host with way too much time on his hands.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Rainy Days and Holidays

Nasty weather today, but it nevertheless put me in a holiday mood. I work tomorrow and Friday, but it feels like I don't. 3am tomorrow will harshly tell me otherwise. Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't supposed to be 74 and sunny. That was the dream scenario growing up in Wisconsin, but it's never taken as long as I've been out in the desert. You get accustomed to things being certain ways. Thanksgiving Eve and it's cold and rainy? I'll take it.

I tend not to patronize places that say they "treat you like family". I think I know more families that are dysfunctional than I do those that can be considered 'normal'. One of the TV websites recently had a survey about family get-togethers over the holidays. The options were A) I look forward to them, or B) They stress me out too much. "A" beat out "B", but the margin was frighteningly small: 52 to 48 percent. Almost half of those surveyed say their family stresses them out too much. I'm pretty sure that's how Pumpkin would've voted.

I look forward to family stuff, probably more than I used to. I know my parents are getting up in years and the number of holiday celebrations we have left are dwindling. I'll be going home for Christmas this year, then back for Thanksgiving in '09. yes, I'm in a holiday mood tonight, but that also means I kind of wish I was there instead of here. One month from now I will. I finally think I'm starting to appreciate things before it's too late and I realize I should've appreciated things more. Does that make any sense? I don't want to be the guy who starts the majority of his sentences with "I should've"..

"Show me a house serving a healthy Thanksgiving dinner and I'll show you a poorly attended gathering"- R. Grotbeck